Nairo Quintana’s Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Is Ready to Climb

Nairo Quintana, 26, is one of the favorites for an overall victory in the 2016 Tour de France. Riding for the Movistar Team, the Colombian—who stands just over five feet, four inches tall and weighs 128 pounds—rides an extra-small Canyon Ultimate CF SLX. With a frame that weighs just 780 grams (claimed, size medium fork: 295 grams) combined with tubular wheels and Campagnolo’s Super Record EPS, Quintana’s bike will have no trouble getting down to the UCI's 6.8kg minimum weight, even with the Power2Max power meter.

Movistar is one of three teams using the Power2Max power meter (Bora-Argon 18 and Direct Énergie are the others). Power2Max offers its power meter for a variety of crank systems—including, as shown, Campagnolo, with a four-arm spider—and it's one of the more affordable options available. With rings, this power meter retails for $1,749, far less expensive than SRM’s version ($2,500).

Continental’s tubulars are some of the most widely used in the Tour de France peloton. The German company officially equips 11 out of the 22 teams, and even teams sponsored by other companies can occasionally be found using Continental tires with the logos blacked out. Most Continental-sponsored riders in the Tour will be riding ProLtd tires, which are not sold to the public. According to insiders, the ProLtd Tires may use different construction (typically different compounds and puncture-resistant layers), and also sometimes light butyl or latex tubes (Continental’s consumer tubulars use standard butyl tubes).

Quintana’s bike is equipped with Elite’s Cannibal cages. The shape of this cage permits side entry, an important feature because of the limited space within the main triangle of Quintana’s extra-small frame. Both reinforced-nylon (shown) and carbon-fiber versions of the cage are offered. Though it’s surprising to see Quintana’s bike equipped with the heavier cages (42 grams for the nylon, 30 grams for the carbon), it may be because mechanics were looking for ways to add weight to the tiny bike to meet the 6.8kg weight minimum.

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Top-Tier Drivetrain

Quintana uses Campagnolo’s top-of-the-line Super Record EPS groupset. Movistar is one of three teams sponsored by the Italian drivetrain manufacturer.

Look’s Keo Blade pedals are very widely used in the Tour peloton. Instead of a coiled metal spring, the Blade uses a carbon-fiber leaf spring for retention. The spring on the latest Blade is almost the full width of the pedal, but this bike is equipped with the older pedal model, which uses a narrower version. I don’t know the official reason, but if I had to guess I’d suspect that Quintana prefers the freer spin of the previous Look pedals: The latest versions have somewhat sticky axle seals. Curiously, these sport “Pinarello” branding.

The Movistar team, as well as Canyon-sponsored Katusha, uses cockpit components from frame sponsor Canyon. While many riders on both Movistar and Katusha use Canyon’s one-piece bar/stem, Quintana opts for a more traditional cockpit. The 42cm width is a bit surprising given Quintana’s small stature.

Campagnolo provides Movistar with wheels as well as drivetrains. On flatter stages, like those that opened the Tour this year, Quintana’s bike is equipped with the 1,215g (claimed weight) Bora Ultra 50 wheelset. For climbing fast in the mountain stages, Quintana will probably use the 1,160g Bora Ultra 35.

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Custom Shifting

Quintana’s bike is equipped with Campagnolo’s EPS V3 interface and Battery. The V3 system provides simplified charging (through the interface, like Shimano’s Di2 systems), and, through the MyCampy smartphone app, some elements of the shifting function may be customized.

While not a traditional aero road bike (Canyon’s Aeroad fills that role), the Ultimate has some aerodynamic features, which reduce drag about 10 percent relative to the previous version of the frameset. Some of the shaping can be seen in the upper regions of the seat tube, which features a blunt, rounded nose and squared back, while the cutout below provides extra tire clearance.

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Protection on Climbs

Canyon’s chain keeper—which is sandwiched between the seat tube bottle cage and frame—provides a bit of extra security for Quintana when climbing steep hills.

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Custom Bar Tape

Lizard Skins provides the Movistar team with DSP bar tape in team colors, with logo-ed finishing tape.

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